16 Aug 2023

 Maun police are investigating an incident in which a 45-year-old man died after being attacked by lion while a 59-year-old wildlife officer sustained serious injuries on the hand and leg at Boro village over the weekend.

The Station commander, Superintendent Dennis Zilawe confirmed the incident in an interview, explaining that they received a report on Saturday morning from one of the men who accompanied the deceased.

Narrating the ordeal, the man said the deceased and the two other men heard some noise as though the cattle were fleeing something on Friday night, along the buffalo fence and they went out to investigate what could be the cause, only to find three lions chasing the cattle.

The trio, he said, tried to chase the lions away and managed to kill two of them while the third one got injured.

Saturday morning, he said they went out again to locate the injured lion and some few kilometres from the village, the injured lion came out of nowhere and attacked the man, leaving him motionless with serious injuries all over the body while another man managed to escape.

Superintendent Zilawe said a team, which comprised Botswana Defence Force members and Department of Wildlife rushed to the scene to rescue the deceased and while there heard a lion roaring in the nearby bush.

The team, he said, decided to trace it and before they knew, it came out charging towards then and attacked the wildlife officer, leaving him with serious injuries.

He said the team managed to kill the lion while the two men were rushed to Letsholathebe Memorial hospital where one was certified dead.

The officer is said to be recuperating at the hospital while investigations continue.

In a separate incident, Supt Zilawe said they were investigating a murder incident, which resulted from an argument that could have been avoided. The incident involves a 30-year-old man suspected to have murdered his girlfriend’s seven-year-old son at Disana ward in Maun last week.

Supt. Zilawe reported that the deceased was a Standard One pupil at Letsholathebe Primary School and the suspect had appeared before Maun magistrate and had been remanded in custody while investigations continue.

The suspect, he said, abducted the child after a misunderstanding with his mother, whom he assaulted while driving her home from work.

The mother, he said, managed to escape and flee to the police station. While the police embarked on his search, they learnt that a vehicle at the victim’s place caught fire and burnt to ashes while the child was missing.

“We intensified the search, but our efforts were in vain. The following day, the suspect handed himself and confessed that the boy was in a car boot, where he had been keeping him” he said.

Supt. Zilawe said when they opened the boot, they found the deceased in an unconscious state with serious bruises all over the head and rushed him to the hospital where he was certified dead upon arrival. Ends